moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should impose minimum sentences for those involved in people smuggling, with the highest minimum sentences for those who profit the most, including organized crime bosses, “snakeheads” and those who carry out the actual smuggling operations.
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased today to have a chance to present my private member's Motion No. 20.
In my presentation today, I will first read my motion so that people listening and watching will know what this is about. Second, I will explain why the motion is very necessary when we consider what is happening in the country in terms of people smuggling. Third, I will explain what I am calling for in the motion and what I see resulting from the motion. Last, I will explain the current situation with regard to what happens right now in Canada with people smugglers.
As people watch this story unfold tonight, they will recognize that the state of our current law and what the government has allowed to happen in the area of people smuggling is truly disgusting. It is unacceptable, not good for Canadians and not good for the people being smuggled. It is only good for the people smugglers themselves who are most often involved in organized crime. As I will explain later, the organized crime activity of people smuggling is encroaching on drug smuggling because it is very profitable and the penalties for getting caught, especially in countries like Canada, really are minimal.
Motion No. 20 reads:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should impose minimum sentences for those involved in people smuggling, with the highest minimum sentences for those who profit the most, including organized crime bosses, “snakeheads” and those who carry out the actual smuggling operations.
What is this motion about? From reading the motion, we can tell that it is about imposing minimum sentences in the area of people smuggling and to apply them to those involved in people smuggling. I am talking about those key organized crime figures who organize and spearhead these operations, those people who actually organize the people smuggling operations and those people who physically carry it out. For example, the crew on a ship or on an airplane might be involved or those who drive a vehicle across a border.
I am saying all this partly because of the current law but more importantly because of the way our judges have been interpreting and applying the law to people involved in smuggling other humans into our country. The sentences that have been given out have been weak. It is necessary to put minimum sentences in place along with the maximum sentences.
As I go through the information on the current situation, we will see very clearly why this is the case. Statistics from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics show that there have only been 14 charges made under the Immigration Act between 1995 and 1998 that apply to people smuggling in any way. All charges were made under subsection 94.1 of the Immigration Act, which states:
Every person who knowingly organizes, induces, aids or abets or attempts to organize, induce, aid or abet the coming into Canada of a person who is not in possession of a valid and subsisting visa, passport or travel document where one is required by this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and liable
(a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both; or
(b) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.
That is the current law that is in place. Let us take a closer look at it. In the last five years not one day has been served in jail by those convicted under subsection 94.1 of the Immigration Act for smuggling people. This is unbelievable for a crime that has extremely serious consequences for the people being smuggled, for Canadian society and for the taxpayers of this country and other countries that may be involved in this crime.
Of the 14 charges that have been laid, there were only 12 convictions, 11 of which were in the fiscal year 1996-97. There have been no convictions under subsection 94.2 which deals with organizing the entry of groups of 10 or more, nor under subsection 94.4, disembarking people at sea in order to help them evade the requirements of the law.
According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, the toughest sentence handed down under subsection 94.1 of the Immigration Act for those convicted of a crime of this severity was a fine of $4,000 and one year's probation; no time in jail.
Subsequently, foreign nationals who were convicted of this serious offence were allowed to remain in Canada to serve their sentence with the minimal supervision of our federal probation system. This means that they were given a little slap-on-the-hand fine, which is peanuts in the scheme of things. Let us consider the example of the almost 500 people who came illegally by boat this summer. They paid about $50,000 American per person to the smugglers who helped them come to our country. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Those who came by boat are roughly 2% of all those who came illegally to our country in this past year. The rest came through our airports, by airplane, or across our border from the United States. That is how the other 95% came here.
We can talk a bit more about that layer, but as we can see clearly, our judicial system and the government are not taking this situation seriously.
When we look at this situation, where people have only received fines and probation when they have been convicted of people smuggling, does it sound like those signs are appropriate? I have clearly stated that I do not think so. What I have heard from Canadians across the country over the summer and through the fall is that they do not think so. To be fair, I have heard from the minister and from others that they do not think these sentences are in line. I guess my question is: Why has the government not done anything about it?
I am here today with my private member's motion because the government will not do anything about people smuggling. However, we are getting used to that, especially on justice issues and on defending the sovereignty of our country. I and the Reform Party feel that we have to fill in and take the responsibility for the government. It is okay by us because we are fully planning on taking over government after the next election. We are the ones who will act responsibly on issues like this. I believe that is what will happen.
That is the situation now in terms of sentencing. We can see that there is a great lack of seriousness attached to this issue. We may have government members standing, as they take part in the debate, saying “But the solicitor general came up with a document last January to deal with organized crime. We believe in protecting Canadians and we are going to get tough on organized crime”, generally on organized crime, not just people smuggling.
The previous solicitor general last January came up with a 10-page document generally laying out the problem with organized crime. He even mentioned people smuggling and how serious it was. What action have we seen over this past year? We know the answer to that. We have seen no action on that whatsoever. It is discouraging, disgusting and it has to change.
Today I am focusing on one aspect of organized crime, people smuggling, which is an area of crime that is growing. People smuggling now, according to some estimates, involves $10 billion a year. It is so serious that it is adding to the current organized crime activity in the drug trade. They are moving their efforts to organized crime because very little happens to them if they get caught.
In other countries the sentences involved are a lot more serious. For example, the United States has a minimum sentence and, depending on the level of involvement, those who are found guilty of people smuggling can be sentenced to three to five years. The maximum sentences in Australia, New Zealand and the United States are much higher than in Canada. This points out the relative seriousness that those governments place on the issue of people smuggling.
In Australia the maximum penalty for people smuggling is 25 years. In Canada it is 10 years. But what is the use of having a 10 year sentence? It sounds like a pretty serious sentence, and it would be if it were applied, but in Canada there is no jail time. We do not want to get tough with anybody who is caught smuggling people, even if they are involved in organized crime. We just give them a little slap on the wrist.
That has made the government, in effect, a partner in organized crime. We send that kind of signal to people involved in smuggling human beings, causing the pain and the sorrow that goes along with people smuggling. The people who are being smuggled find themselves working in sweat shops, often in prostitution and drug trafficking. If that is as serious as the government takes these types of activities and this type of enslavement, then it should be ashamed of itself.
I look for quick action on this issue. Today, again, I am offering this private member's motion. It should go to committee. It should be fleshed out and it should provide a minimum sentence for those involved in people smuggling.
My motion does not provide a means by which to seize the proceeds of crime achieved by those involved in people smuggling. That is certainly something which must be dealt with.
The motion does not deal with any other area of organized crime. It does not deal with some other very serious issues involved in people smuggling.
People smuggling does not only cause pain to those being smuggled, it encourages and accommodates those who would like to come to our country illegally. When we have large numbers of people coming to our country, often undetected, then I would suggest that is a threat to the very sovereignty of our nation. That speaks to the importance of this issue, which the government must deal with, and I would encourage it to do that now.
I have not even touched on the cost to taxpayers. I will talk about that later, as well as the many other serious issues which are involved.